fredk

Interesting. The OP doesn't say where he is located. Another difference between our countries. I've not yet come across any male trousers, of any sort, which will not take 1.75 inch [ 45mm ] wide belt. A lot of belts I made were in the 36 to 42mm widths [ 1.5 to 1.65 inches approx] with some to 1.75 and to 2 inch. 1.25 and under were rarely wanted except by medieval re-enactors

Not just a noob question. I've been wondering why as well. Perhaps its cos if you do the 'hole' end you'll end up with a hole too close to the end. On US belts the buckle end can sometimes be easier as they like to have removable buckles but in the UK our buckles are usually not removable I've shortened belts by chopping off the 'hole' end and adding on a metal or leather tip to cover up the one or two holes closest to the tip.

If you are thinking of making some belts for 'stock' and not-to-order I would make some in 1.25" and some in 1.75"

not really. I've done from 3/4 inch wide thru to 2.5 inch. Depends on what the customer wants

also, do not glue down nor sew the centre 1/2 inch

Try 1. dampen leather, not as wet as for moulding but as wet as for tooling 2. dilute the dye 3. dip dampened leather into diluted dye 4. leave leather in dye till dye soaks in, minutes not seconds 5. remove leather from dye, allow to partially dry 6. repeat 3, 4 and 5 as necessary until colour density is reached

With the mad rush over the Tandy Library website is running at a decent speed again. At least it was for me yesterday

On the matter of sand casting. I know it as 'oil sand'. I've used it for making belt ends amongst other things. The belt ends were made in pewter. I found this old picture of one I made a long time ago. The belt/strap end was copied from one found in a field. I made my original copy in layers of plastic card then packed oil sand under and on top of it. Split the oil sand mould, took out the plastic strap end, closed up the mould and poured in molten pewter through a pouring shaft hole. About 10 minutes later I split the mould and took out my metal strap end. The sand mould gets destroyed in taking out the metal strap end as some pewter is in the pouring hole and a vent shaft. But it only takes a few minutes to make the mould again

I've used various methods. 1. multiple coats of thinned paint 2. sealing with a floor varnish. You don't say where you are. In the US you can get a floor 'polish' sometimes called 'Pledge with Future Shine'** or a similar name. It is not a floor polish but a water-thin acrylic varnish. A few coats of this makes a good sealer. Then paint silver, then white. ** Astonish in the UK 3. Tippex / white out. A thin coat of this before the white paint. If you can use the roll of Tippex tape as it is more of a physical barrier

Thats why I keep clear of white thread, could I ask, for you to put your locality in your 'profile? that way when we give any advice, especially on purchasing, we can be more specific for you and your area

and there I was think it was for recording personnel who were on 'a charge'. When I was in the RAF Officer Of The Day kept such a book, entering who was 'on a charge' and what for and determining who was 'carpeted' ie went before the Senior Officer, for punishment another example of different meanings in the two countries

I've noticed that Tandy kits don't seem to give you the bast of anything but charge you top dollar for it. I have several types and sizes of threads. Currently two of my general purpose threads are 1mm and 0.65mm. Both are pre-waxed and flat in section. I buy my thread from Chinese sellers on ebay. Example below, most of these sellers can supply thread in different colours ~ I have threads in Brown, black, yellow, red, blue, purple et cetera. I like this thread as it is a. prewaxed, b. it lays down nicely when pulled tight example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260M-150D-1MM-Leather-Sewing-Waxed-Wax-Thread-Hand-needle-Cord-Craft-DIY-Ne-P9N1/143168155306 I have to import all of my leather work supplies. The thread order usually takes 10 to 20 days to arrive with me so I order well in advance of need, ie I keep a stock in hand I think for what you are doing and to suit your chisels 1mm thread is required. With pre-made holes, eg punched with chisels or made with a sewing awl you need Saddlers Harness needles. For 1mm thread I use John James size 2/0 or 1/0 Harness needles. For 0.65mm thread I use JJ size 4 . When sewing soft leather and I don't pre-punch holes Glover's needles are needed. For 1mm thread I use John James size 001 or Osborne 17 gauge, for 0.65mm thread I use JJ size 2 It was all trial and error for me too. I started with the small 'leather' needles in general purpose needle packs and a couple of very large spools [about 1500m each] of waxed Barbour thread I was given. [I still have some of those spools!] Others may chip in here and give their advice

a. do a search on here. there is somat about sending your photo to yourself via the phone and that resizes it to a size for pasting it here. I can't tell you more cos I use a photo-editing proggy to resize photos/ b. your thread looks a wee bit too small for the holes and are you waxing it enough?

sheesh, it was George 1st. Back on course; I advise people to take up with a good tannery/supplier and work up a relationship with them. I have with Le Prevo. I can tell them what I want the leather for and let them send me out something. In my 'medieval' period I was sometimes actually looking veg tan with surface scars, would you believe it? and thats what Le Prevo supplied

A. I put it just on the outside layer with a thin cloth liner glued over it, which also gets sewn at the edges b. don't bother with the fancy expensive RFID stuff. Aluminium tape used for insulating heating pipes is cheaper. £4.99 for a 50m roll. Its also thicker by a smidgen and self adhesive. It works fine & dandy

to put my idea in action. I used a detailed 3D stamp. On 2.2mm veg tan [about 5-6 oz?] On the left, stamped on my block of marble, on the right, stamped on 3mm steel plate No real difference, only slightly due to me and how hard I whacked the handle. I use the real big handle and 'walked' the stamp in different directions to get the edges nicely done. Now, by comparison : my marble block is about 4" x 8" x 1.25" thick, it weighs 1.6Kg. The 3" square steel plate is 3mm thick and weighs 128g, so x4 for a 6" square is 512g. A 1/3 of the marble block, The 3mm plate can be stored and carried easier. For the scouts a piece of plate 3"x 6" would be plenty, that makes it 256g. or x 20 = 5.12Kg Plus, you can go to just about any builders suppliers and get the steel plate, cut to size too, for far less cost and easier to get than granite/marble blocks in quantity. Only down-side: the edges and corners of the steel plate will need smoothing, on either a double-wheel sander or with a sanding disc on an angle grinder or something Price wise, I paid 75p [about 90c] for the 3" square, about £1.50 [about $1.80] for a piece 8" square and I think the prices will be by far cheaper in the US

also consider how long the company is likely to exist in the future. In this 21st century even old companies are closing down at a fast rate. Many guarantees / warranties are worthless. Even when one company is taken over by another and looses its individual identity its warranties are ignored thereafter. I can give plenty of personally known examples but I'll not. Our guarantees / warranties must stand true I know a local artisan pottery which gives no guarantee on its works. Someone I know bought a nice looking coffee mug. Sold as such. Got it home, went to use. The mug was porous, like a sponge. Coffee all over the kitchen work top. She took the mug back to the pottery. Their reaction was 'So?' no money back no replacement mug - nowt. £15 wasted on a pen holder Our guarantees / warranties must stand true

Its the hard surface you need. Try steel plate. 3mm thick by 6" square. I have a round block of steel I used to use as a portable anvil. Its about 4" diameter by 3" deep. Not only was it good for setting ready-rivets but I could do stamp impressions on it too. Many will tell you, not to put wet leather in touch with iron/steel but for the few minutes that the scouts need there'll be no problems, or to make your mind easy, paint the surface of the steel plate

btw, a 'life-time' guarantee is illegal** in EU law. afair it has to be in nominated years and be of reasonable length. The 100 years mentioned above would be out of order I think but 50 or 75 years would be fine ** but I don't care, so there

I give a life-time warranty on all my goods plus free repair. In 20 years I've had two items back for repair. Both were really well used, the damage was due to wear-and-tear, but repair them I did. When asked what 'life-time' means, ie mine, the item's or the owner's? I tell 'em, mine or the item's which ever ends first For 16 years my brand was just - Fred. Cos I was fairly well known in the Historical Presentation/Re-enactment circles. Just "get Fred to make it/mend it" But since I left that scene I have to start over again.

That sounds like a plan indeedy I've thought of another way; find a friendly hobbyist wood turner. Bribe with copious bottles of brew/wine/chocolates and ask him/her to turn it up copying a donor gaiter

Took a notion to make some of these. I used a bit of left over veg tan, about 2mm thick for the main tray body. The interior stamped panel is about 1.2mm and is simply glued in place. I used stamps for the centre pieces which are 8cm square. The sides of the tray stand about 2cm high. I don't really like the way the folded corners stick out so I cut them and rounded them, holding the two parts together with glue and a double-head rivet. Edges were slicked with my beeswax mix. I made a dozen in one session. I made 3 with the Monarch of the Glen, two in brown, one in purple. The one with the oval stamp I made eight, for club members. I did; red/red (2), red/blue, red/black, blue/blue(2), blue/red and blue/black. The other one I did was dyed purple and has a motorcycle design stamped on its panel. I decided to do a separate interior stamped panel as 1. I had a piece of very thin leather which I was able to cut the 8cm squares out of 2. By having it separate I could mix and match 3.. It gives a smoother inside base and I can have the grain side on the outside of the tray 4. a mis-stamp or other happening to the 8cm square means only it is scrap, not the whole tray. eg, two squares reacted funny to the red dye, so they ended up being black. ta for looking in

The donor bellows gaiter would need to be well supported on the outside to make it hold its shape. I'm thinking, a bucket of sand. The gaiter plugged at one end and set upright on a layer of sand in a bucket. Loosely pack sand around a section of the gaiter, pour in cement, pack sand tighter, let that section harden, repeat to the top. I'd have several 6mm steel/iron rods running up the centre as well eeee, this be fun

You may well be right about the plaster Mike. Regular Plaster of Paris is far too weak and soft I use a modelling plaster called Keramin. Its a special plaster with a high level of ceramic powder in it. I've used it for making bucks to mould leather over. But it still might not do the job. But. . . hows about using cement, regular house bricky sticking ceeement for the inside of the bellows gaiter? I've used cement to make bucks for moulding leather over as well as for moulding fibreglass over

Well, I'll tell ya folks; for about 16 years almost** everything I made was a copy of someone else's design and / or work. Thats cos nearly everything I was making was for history re-enactment type people so everything was copied from existing Ancient Hibernian/Saxon/Viking/Medieval items. For some History re-enactors, they wanted near-enuf exact copies, others were content with a variation on the real example. I doubt the original makers are going to chase me - well, not this side of the Styx anyways ** during that period only about 5% of my output was my original design/work